Thursday, March 1, 2007

Air Force training craft crashes in Anuradhapura

A Sri Lanka air force training aircraft crashed into the runway of Anuradhapura AB today at around 12 noon. The tragic incident resulted in the death of one trainee pilot and a flight instructor.
The aircraft which crashed, which is of type PT6, is damaged beyond repair. PT6 aircraft are used by the SLAF exculsively for training purposes.
The cause of the crash is suspected to be a technical failure. Investigations are going on.

15 comments:

Actually its a type CJ6 made by Nanchang Aircraft Corp in China(licensed copy of the Yak-18). It was redesignated as a PT6 by the SLAF (PT = Primary Trainer). They are all flown by the No.1 Flying Training Squadron based at Anuradhapura.

Yes the Yak-18 (PT6) is an old design. The PT6 might have been very cheap to acquire and run.We should have got new PILATUS PC-7's,EMBRAER EMB-312's or SF-260W(which the air force and pilots were used to). Tragic crash...the SLAF has been plagued by many crashes like this one.

Yeah..The CJ6 the licensed copy of the Yak-18 is 30 years old. It's time that SLAF worth considering moving to other options.I would not recommend any of the PILATUS PC-7's,EMBRAER EMB-312's nor SF-260W. They all just sucks.After all we dont want to loose our pilots and trainees...

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this aircraft. It is a proven platform and it is more than suitable for our requirements. In the SLAF, all cadet pilots receive primary flight training on the PT-6 and upon completion and receiving their wings they are branched off to the Fixed wing and rotor wing depending on current requirements. Hence, buying turboprop aircraft such as PC-7 or Embraer Tucano aircraft is an overkill since they are for advanced training and not primary training. The Siai Marchetti Warrior aircraft is not a primary trainer but a COIN (Counter Insurgency) platform designed to carry free fall bombs and gun pods. As we all know, the SLAF did have this type in the inventory in the early phase of the war and it met with disastrous consequences. This aircraft is more suited for a low intensity conflict that does not have a MANPADS (man portable air defence systems) threat. 90% of air crashes are due to pilot error so dismissing the PT-6 due to its design being 30 years old is not correct. What the SLAF needs to focus on is to constantly improve on maintainence and upgrades of the current fleet and not induct any more types.

nemesis,The MFI-17 'Mushak' which is produced by Pakistan is a very good bet. It is a proven platform, cheap, and its a high wing aircraft which gives it very good stability. Its one of the cheapest turbo props in the market.

Why is basic flight training for chopper pilots done on a fixed wing? Since flying the a chopper is so different from a fixed wing, a chopper flight trainee would have to unlearn many things learned on a fixed wing. I believe US Army chopper pilots start off straight onto a chopper. One of those small two-seater jobs.

Our flight curriculum is based on fixed wing flying. Until the start of hostilities with the LTTE in the early eighties, we our fleet hardly had helicopters and those that were present were used for VIP duties and not for offensive or troop transport purposes. That practice has continued since, and its quite an impediment. The biggest jump is when 212 pilots graduate on to the Mi-24/35. As a result we have some pilots who have fixed wing and rotor wing ratings.

Not only the US Army, most nations have a dedicated Helicopter training curriculum with flt training done from on the onset on helicopters. The US Army pilots start their initial training on the TH-67 and then graduate on to the OH-58 for combat skills training and then specialize in AH-64A/D, CH-47 etc. at advanced graduate training.

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